edoc
Immigration, Acculturation and Parenting: [From] Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development.
Bornstein, Marc H.
Bohr, Yvonne.
Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (CEECD).
Strategic Knowledge Cluster on ECD (SKC-ECD).
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Briefing Materials
8 p.
Copyright
Published: April 12, 2011
Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (CEECD)/Strategic Knowledge Cluster on ECD (SKC-ECD)
Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development
GRIP-Universite de Montreal
C.P. 6128, succ. Centre-ville
Montreal (Quebec) H3C 3J7,
Tel: 514-343-6111, ext. 2541
Fax: 514-343-6962
cedje-ceecd@umontreal.ca
Available From:http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/en-ca/home.html
This brief explores the impact of immigration and acculturation on parenting. It examines the extent to which immigrant parents' caregiving cognitions and practices change when they migrate from one culture to another and the unique challenges parents face in acculturating. Research is reviewed that indicates immigration and acculturation are major transforming forces on families; parenting practices appear to migrate more readily than cognitions; immigrants do not always readily adopt cognitions of the receiving culture, and culturally significant parenting beliefs and norms tend to resist change; different immigrant groups retain and adopt culture-specific cognitions and practices differently; peers and schools exert major socializing influences on youth, and this can result in children becoming more quickly acculturated than their parents; dissonant acculturation often leads to increasing parent-child conflicts in immigrant families and adaptation challenges for children; and immigrant parents are exposed to numerous acculturative stressors and are often at heightened risk for parenting stress and other mental health vulnerabilities. Continuing research gaps are identified and implications of the findings for parents, services, and policy are discussed. 36 references.
Keywords:
acculturation; immigrants; parenting